IN GAME one of the replay of the UAAP Season 69 Finals, the Ateneo Blue Eagles came from behind to beat the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers, 83-78, in a hotly contested outing on October 6 in front of 20,686 spectators at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Blue Eagles took an early 5-2 lead two minutes in after Nico Salva’s three-point play. Both teams then traded baskets up until the 4:13 mark, when Kevin Ferrer’s three put the Tigers up, 13-10.
UST took control of the quarter from thereon, but Ateneo managed to tie the score at 18-18 with just over a minute remaining through Greg Slaughter’s alley-oop from Kiefer Ravena.
After the conversion, though, Aljon Mariano and Jeric Teng took UST on a 6-0 run to end the quarter, 24-18.
The España-based squad built on their run at the start of the second quarter, taking a 26-19 lead in the first minute. The Blue Eagles incessantly attempted to pit themselves closer, but every basket they converted was seemingly answered on the other end. Mariano and Teng led the way for UST with 11 and 10 points, respectively, in the first half.
UST managed to balloon their lead to 11, 36-25, after Mariano’s successful three-point play with 3:12 remaining. Ateneo pushed to get closer, cutting the lead to just seven, 31-38, with six seconds to go in the first half after Tonino Gonzaga’s shot was good.
The defending champs came from the break with all cylinders firing, going on a massive 17-0 run, capped off with a Slaughter free throw that put Ateneo up double digits for the first time in the match, 48-38, with 3:50 on the clock.
Ateneo scored a historic 30 points in the third quarter—the most points scored in a quarter in a UAAP Finals game. This strong quarter allowed Coach Norman Black’s boys to fend off UST’s efforts and maintain a 10-point lead, 61-51, at the end of the quarter.
A three by Mariano early in the final quarter ignited an 11-0 run for the Growling Tigers. A Karim Abdul dunk handed back the Tigers the lead, 64-63, with 6:55 to go.
Veteran Salva, however, had other plans.
Salva drained a baseline jumper that sparked an 8-2 run that put the Blue Eagles back up by five, 71-66, with 4:30 remaining. Unyielding to Ateneo, the Tigers managed to pull to within one after Teng’s three-pointer, 71-70.
Just when the Tigers’ momentum was running high, however, Ryan Buenafe knocked down a three-pointer from the corner and was fouled. His four-point play silenced the UST crowd and increased Ateneo’s lead to seven, 77-70, with 3:00 left. His heroics inspired the Blue Eagles to increase their lead to nine, 81-72, after Juami Tiongson’s up-and-under layup with just 1:07 remaining.
However, Teng drained back-to-back three-pointers that put the Tigers to within three, 81-78 with 35 seconds on the clock.
With the clock running down, Ravena ran the ball down and drew a foul from Abdul, who graduated from the game. In the subsequent possession, The Phenom drained the clock and knocked down a dagger jumper with eight seconds left to bring Ateneo one win closer to the historic fifth straight title.
Salva continued his magnificent form in the finals and made a strong case for his second Finals Most Valuable Player award, tallying a career-high 30 points from 14-23 shooting. He is only the third Atenean to break the 30-point barrier, the others being LA Tenorio and Rabeh Al-Husseini. Ravena also contributed 13 points, together with seven rebounds and five assists.
Teng and Mariano also had good outings, making 25 and 22 points, respectively.
The Blue Eagles dominated UST in the rebounds department, hauling down 45, which was 10 more than the Tigers.
Ateneo struggled with possession in the first half, giving away 10 turnovers in the first two quarters alone, but drastically improved in the second half, with only three turnovers.
“Now that it’s here, I don’t want to let it slip away,” commented Salva about being just one game away from attaining his fifth ring. “It’s a rare opportunity.”
“Right now I just want to win this championship,” said Black. “Luckily for me I have unselfish players who are winners; they want to win.”
The Blue Eagles are just one game away from the coveted fifth straight title, and they have a chance to win it all in game two, scheduled at 3:00 PM on Thursday, October 11 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Box scores:
Ateneo 83 – Salva 30, Ravena 13, Tiongson 12, Buenafe 10, Chua 9, Slaughter 5, Gonzaga 2, Elorde 2, Sumalinog 0, Golla 0
UST 78 – Teng 25, Mariano 22, Ferrer 13, Abdul 9, Fortuna 4, Lo 3, Pe 2, Bautista 0
